Jeff Bezos wants floating colonies in space with weather like Maui all year long — here's what he thinks they'll look like

An artist's concept of an O'Neill space colony, with agriculture and high-speed transport.Blue Origin

Jeff Bezos, in a presentation for his company Blue Origin this week, detailed his ambitions to put up to 1 trillion people in space in O'Neill colonies: spinning cylinders meant to replicate gravity, orbit the Earth, and sustain human life.

"This is Maui on its best day, all year long," he said, according to The Guardian. "No rain. No earthquakes. People are going to want to live here."

The Princeton physicist Gerard O'Neill came up with the idea in 1976, when he said other planets might not be the best place for humans to live away from Earth.

Jeff Bezos on Thursday restated his ambition to build floating space colonies where people could stay in orbit in excellent climates, with weather like "Maui on its best day, all year long."

The Amazon founder made the comments at a press conference in Washington, DC, where he unveiled the Blue Moon lander, a giant vehicle designed to deliver payloads — and perhaps astronauts one day — to the surface of the moon.

The spinning cylinders are designed to replicate gravity, orbit the Earth, and give people and plants a place to live.

Bezos described the O'Neill colonies as having "high-speed transport," "agricultural areas," and "cities in the background," with some designed for recreation.

"They don't all have to have the same gravity," he said. "You could have a recreational one that keeps zero Gs so that you could go flying with your own wings. Some would be national parks."

An artist's concept of an O'Neill space colony, which could mimic a national park.Blue Origin

The cylinders are named after the Princeton physicist Gerard O'Neill, who in 1976 suggested that other planets might not be the best place for humans to live away from Earth.

According to Bezos' plan, living in those space colonies would be as easy and temperate as living in Hawaii.

"This is Maui on its best day, all year long," he said, according to The Guardian. "No rain. No earthquakes. People are going to want to live here."

Bezos said he envisioned some of the colonies replicating cities on Earth.

"They might pick historical cities and mimic them in some way," he said.

An artist's concept of an O'Neill space colony, which could copy cities on Earth.Blue Origin

Some of them might even have a futuristic bent.

"There would be whole new kinds of architecture," Bezos said, adding that "these are ideal climates."

He continued: "What does the architecture even look like when it no longer has its primary purpose of shelter? We'll find out. These are beautiful. People are going to want to live here. And they can be close to Earth, so that you can return."

An artist's concept of an O'Neill space colony with innovative architecture.Blue Origin

He noted that O'Neill colonies would have to be constructed by future generations, as the technology does not exist. But he pledged to start building the infrastructure now, starting with the Blue Moon lander.